EMV Chip

Effective November 2015, our Prime Platinum VISA® Credit Card is now outfitted with EMV chip technology. It’s the most secure, fraud-resistant payment method you can use.

What is EMV?

EMV (Europay, MasterCard®, Visa®) is microcomputer chip technology that is instrumental in preventing the spread of credit card fraud. EMV chip cards are inherently more secure due to card authentication, cardholder verification and transaction authorization features.

How it Secures Card Information

Chip cards are equipped with a small metallic square on the front of the card that holds your information. The chip, which creates a unique transaction code for each purchase, houses your card information. Verification occurs simultaneously with each purchase; as a result, making it more difficult for fraudsters to obtain your information.

Magnetic Strip vs. Chip

What makes EMV chip cards more secure than the magnetic strip? EMV chip cards have the ability to encrypt data, which means that only authorized users can access your information. This encryption technology makes it extremely challenging for fraudsters to create duplicate cards.

Can I Use it Anywhere?

EMV chip cards come with dual-purpose technology to enhance your purchasing capabilities. While U.S. merchants continue to update their payment terminals to process EMV chip transactions, you will still have the ability to make purchases using the magnetic strip.

Not Harder, Just Different

Using your new EMV chip card is a little different. Most of today’s payment terminals require a quick swipe of your card. Chip card-enabled terminals, will read, “Please insert the chip card into the terminal.” The terminal will authenticate your card and keep it safely inside the terminal until the transaction is complete. It’s this authentication process that will provide an enhanced level of comfort when making purchases.